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Deep Well Drilling
Deepwater drilling, or deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater than 150 meters. Deepwater drilling has not been technologically or economically feasible for many years, but with rising oil prices, more companies are investing in this sector. Major investors include Halliburton, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Diamond Offshore, Transocean, Geoservices, and Schlumberger. The deepwater gas and oil market has been back on the rise since the 2010 ''Deepwater Horizon'' disaster, with total expenditures of around United States dollar, US$35 billion per year in the market and total global capital expenditures of US$167 billion in the past four years. Industry analysis by business intelligence company Visiongain estimated in 2011 that total expenditures in global deepwater infrastructure would reach US$145 billion. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabed
The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as seabeds. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of the ocean is very deep, where the seabed is known as the abyssal plain. Seafloor spreading creates mid-ocean ridges along the center line of major ocean basins, where the seabed is slightly shallower than the surrounding abyssal plain. From the abyssal plain, the seabed slopes upward toward the continents and becomes, in order from deep to shallow, the continental rise, Continental slope, slope, and Continental shelf, shelf. The depth within the seabed itself, such as the depth down through a sediment core, is known as the "depth below seafloor". The ecological environment of the seabed and the deepest waters are collectively known, as a habitat for creatures, as the "benthos". Most of the seabed throughout the world's oceans is covered in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Offshore Drilling
Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the term is used to describe drilling activities on the continental shelf, though the term can also be applied to drilling in lakes, inshore waters and Inland sea, inland seas. Offshore drilling presents all environmental challenges, both offshore and onshore from the produced hydrocarbons and the materials used during the drilling operation. Controversies include the ongoing US offshore drilling debate. There are many different types of facilities from which offshore drilling operations take place. These include bottom founded drilling rigs (Jackup rig, jackup barges and swamp Barge, barges), combined drilling and production facilities either bottom founded or floating platforms, and deepwater mobile offshore drilling units (MODU) including Sem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deepwater Wellbore Integrity
Deepwater wellbore integrity can be defined as the application of relevant engineering techniques and operational measures in deepwater drilling to control related risks during the drilling process, ensuring that deepwater oil and gas wells are always in a safe state throughout their entire life cycle. In deepwater drilling, high investment, high risk, and high return are the most significant characteristics, so special attention needs to be paid to safety operations during the drilling process. Difficulties Harsh environment According to international conventions, oil and gas wells with a depth greater than 500 meters are considered deepwater wells, while oil and gas wells with a depth greater than 1500 meters are considered ultra deepwater wells. In the deepwater marine environment, geological conditions and environmental factors are more complex. Firstly, the deepwater marine environment is more harsh, with frequent typhoons and extreme waves. After the superposition of interna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tension-leg Platform
__NOTOC__ A tension-leg platform (TLP) or extended tension leg platform (ETLP) is a vertically geotechnical engineering#Floating-moored structures, moored floating structure normally used for the offshore production of crude oil, oil or natural gas, gas, and is particularly suited for water depths greater than 300 metres (about 1000 ft) and less than 1500 metres (about 4900 ft). Use of tension-leg platforms has also been proposed for offshore wind power, offshore wind turbines. The platform is permanently moored by means of tethers or tendons grouped at each of the structure's corners. A group of tethers is called a tension leg. A feature of the design of the tethers is that they have relatively high Axis of rotation, axial stiffness (low Elasticity (physics), elasticity), such that virtually all vertical motion of the platform is eliminated. This allows the platform to have the production wellheads on deck (connected directly to the subsea wells by rigid risers), instea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spar (platform)
A spar is a marine structure, used for floating oil platform, oil/gas platforms. Named after navigation channel Spar buoys, spar platforms were developed as an extreme deepwater alternative to conventional platforms. The deep draft design of spars makes them less affected by wind, wave, and currents and allows for both dry tree and subsea production. A spar platform consists of a large-diameter, vertical buoyant Cylinder (geometry), cylinder(s) supporting a deck. Spars are permanently anchored to the seabed by a spread mooring system composed of either a chain-wire-chain or chain-polyester-chain configuration. The cylinder comprises a number of tanks; the lowest contains ballast, mid-water and/or extracted oil, the upper, air for buoyancy. Helical strakes are fitted to larger & more recent designs to mitigate the effects of vortex-induced motion. There are three primary types of spars; classic, truss, and cell: * A classic spar consists of a tall-height, cylindrical hull, with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drillship
A drillship is a merchant vessel designed for use in exploratory offshore drilling of new oil and gas wells or for scientific drilling purposes. In recent years the vessels have been used in deepwater and ultra-deepwater applications, equipped with the latest and most advanced dynamic positioning systems. History The first drillship was the ''CUSS I'', designed by Robert F. Bauer of Global Marine in 1955. The ''CUSS I'' had drilled in 400-foot-deep waters by 1957.Schempf, F. (2007). Pioneering Offshore: The Early Years. [Tulsa, OK]: PennWell Custom Pub. Robert F. Bauer became the first president of Global Marine in 1958. In 1961 Global Marine started a new drillship era. They ordered several self-propelled drillships each with a rated centerline drilling of 20,000 foot-wells in water depths of 600 feet. The first was named ''CUSS (GlobalSantaFe Corporation, Glomar) II'', a 5,500-deadweight-ton vessel, costing around $4.5 million. Built by a Gulf Coast shipyard, the vesse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semi-submersible
Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as: *Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport *Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface *Semi-submarine, which cannot fully submerge *Semi-submersible naval vessel, which partially submerges to minimize being observed *Semi-submersible platform, which is typically transported to a location where it is placed in service * Oil platform, a large structure with facilities for well drilling to explore, extract, store, and process petroleum and natural gas, in deeper water (more than 1,500 metres (4,900 ft)), the semisubmersibles or drillships are maintained at the required drilling location using dynamic positioning. See also * Submarine boat * Submersible A submersible is an underwater vehicle which needs to be transported and supported by a larger ship, watercraft or dock, platform. This distinguishes submersibles from submari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelagic Zone
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the surface of the sea and the bottom. Conditions in the water column change with depth: pressure increases; temperature and light decrease; salinity, oxygen, micronutrients (such as iron, magnesium and calcium) all change. In a manner analogous to stratification in the Earth's atmosphere, the water column can be divided vertically into up to five different layers (illustrated in the diagram), with the number of layers depending on the depth of the water. Marine life is affected by bathymetry (underwater topography) such as the seafloor, shoreline, or a submarine seamount, as well as by proximity to the boundary between the ocean and the atmosphere at the ocean surface, which brings light for photosynthesis, predation from above, and wind sti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oil Spill
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil spills can result from the release of crude oil from oil tanker, tankers, Oil platform, offshore platforms, drilling rigs, and Oil well, wells. They may also involve spills of Oil refinery, refined petroleum products, such as gasoline and diesel fuel, as well as their by-products. Additionally, heavier fuels used by large ships, such as bunker fuel, or spills of any oily refuse or waste oil, contribute to such incidents. These spills can have severe environmental and economic consequences. Oil spills penetrate into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and muc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill was an environmental disaster off the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico, on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. It is considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico. Caused in the aftermath of a blowout and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, the United States federal government estimated the total discharge at . After Efforts to stem the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on 19 September 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated that the well site was still leaking. The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill is regarded as one of the largest environmental disasters in world history. A massive response ensued to protect beaches, salt marsh, wetlands and Estuary, estuaries from the spreading oil util ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drill String
A drill string on a drilling rig is a column, or string, of drill pipe that transmits drilling fluid (via the mud pumps) and torque (via the kelly drive or top drive) to the Well drilling#Drill bits in mechanical drilling, drill bit. The term is loosely applied to the assembled collection of the smuggler pool, drill collars, tools and drill bit. The drill string is hollow so that drilling fluid can be pumped down through it and circulated back up the Annulus (oil well), annulus (the void between the drill string and the casing/open hole). Components The drill string is typically made up of three sections: * Bottom hole assembly (BHA) * Transition pipe, which is often heavyweight drill pipe (HWDP) * Drill pipe Bottom hole assembly (BHA) The Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA) is made up of: a Well drilling#Drill bits in mechanical drillings, drill bit, which is used to break up the rock Geologic formation, formations; drill collars, which are heavy, thick-walled tubes used to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
